Blackmail (1929)

Blackmail
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Charles Bennett
1929/UK
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Gossiping Neighbour: A good clean honest whack over the ‘ead with a brick is one thing. There’s something British about that. But knives? Nope. Knives is not right. I must say, that is what I think and that is what I feel. Whatever the provocation, I could never use a knife. Now, mind you, a knife is a difficult thing to handle. I mean any knife… a knife… a knife… a knife…

Hitchcock’s first talkie is on the clunky side, but watchable.

Alice White (Anny Ondra) is a coy and flighty young woman who thinks she has it all together.  (Truth to tell, she is absolutely the most irritating heroine in the Hitchcock catalog).  Opposites attract I suppose and she is dating hunky Detective Frank Webber of Scotland Yard.  He arrives late for a date and Alice ditches him at a restaurant to go off with an unnamed artist (Cyril Ritchard).  He lures her into his studio to see his paintings.

Alice is an idiot and in way over her head.  Soon the artist takes her behind a curtain and tries to force himself on her.  She grabs a knife from a nearby table and stabs him to death.

Of course, Frank is assigned to the murder case.  He finds her glove at the scene but chooses to hide this from his superiors.  Then a blackmailer turns up….  The movie ends with a chase through the British Museum.

Sound technology was in its infancy, obviously, and the talking scenes had to be taken with a stationary camera in a soundproof booth.  The delivery of the dialogue is oddly slow and stilted.  But Hitch still gets to work his developing magic in the silent scenes.  It’s certainly not a must-see but it is of interest to those following Hitchcock’s progression into the Master he became.

Anny Ondra’s sound test with Hitch – do not miss!

The knife scene – comparison of silent vs. sound versions (in English)